By Todd Saelhof
‘Big Chill’ is doing what he does best these days.
“I’m just chillin’,” said Freddie Childress from his home in Calgary.
“I’m just hangin’. Can’t do anything. Too dangerous out there.”
Indeed, it’s a different world these days.
Not even a guy who was a master at protecting teammates during his star-studded time in the Canadian Football League — for which he’s been named in the 2020 Class of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame — should be out there shielding everyone from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
So the legendary offensive lineman — remembered mostly for his efforts over eight seasons with the Calgary Stampeders — is sitting back these days taking in his honour from his armchair during the virtual CFL Grey Cup Week.
“I was really happy about getting into the hall of fame,” said Childress, who joins three other Stampeders — Greg Vavra, Henry Burris and John Hufnagel — in this year’s call to the hall. “It’s been 14 years since my last game, right? So when I got the call, I was pretty surprised.
“I wasn’t just sitting here waiting on it to happen,” continued Childress. “After 14 years, you never know. I didn’t really have a clue. I saw some other guys I played with going in, so I was thinking maybe sometime soon.”
It seemed inevitable for such a massive member — a 6-foot-4, 345-lb. one — of two Grey Cup championship teams in Calgary.
But it isn’t just the team titles, in 1998 and 2001, that puts Childress in the hall. It’s the individual accolades that helped enshrine him.
Childress, now 54, was rewarded for being a force at both guard and tackle, earning CFL all-star honours six times, getting named the DeMarco-Becket Memorial Trophy as the Western Division’s top o-lineman in both 1997 and ’98 and winning the league’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award in 1998.
Most of those achievements came while with the Stamps from 1996-2003.
“Over all the years, I stayed pretty consistent,” Childress said. “But it wasn’t one thing sticking out about me . . . it was a unit.
“I was just trying to do my job, man,” continued the Pirates nominee for Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman in 1994. “Football is a driven sport. You gotta go out there and do your job. If you don’t, somebody else is going to come and take it from you. I was just trying to go about and do my job every day and let the chips fall.”
Childress spent 13 seasons in the CFL, playing with four different teams — including wrapping up his career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 2004-06 — while appearing in 185 regular-season games, 14 playoff games and three Grey Cups, winning two of them.
After starring with his home-state NCAA Arkansas Razorbacks and being drafted by the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals in the second round, he found success with the New England Patriots, in 1991 when he scored a touchdown, and the Cleveland Browns, in ’92, for 31 NFL games total.
Then it was a chance to shine in the CFL close to his home of Little Rock, Ark., during an oft-forgotten time of the league’s U.S. expansion. In 1994, Childress hooked up with the Shreveport Pirates, and in ’95, he played for the Birmingham Barracudas.
“I was right there in Shreveport, La., and Birmingham, Ala., — right up the road from my home in Arkansas, back in the day when they had the teams down there,” Childress said. “It was good while it lasted.
“It gave me an opportunity to get to Canada, and I came to Canada (in 1996), and this is what ended up happening.”
Yes, it was a heckuva run with the Stamps, as he became a fan fave and a true favourite of the many quarterbacks lining up behind him.
“You talk about one of the most intimidating players I’ve played with and against in the game,” said fellow Class of 2020 CFHOFer Burris. “You talk about his athleticism and ability to move so effortlessly, even though he was a big man, and how impactful he was. You knew standing in the pocket behind him, he was going to do anything and everything to make sure your jersey went unblemished. He made sure his offensive line was prepared, as well, and doing their jobs to the best of their ability, as well.
“That’s why we quarterbacks experienced a lot of success behind Big Chill.”
Childress preferred to chalk up any success to Burris and the others around him.
“We had some pretty good quarterbacks here, right?” Childress said. “I played with Jeff Garcia and Marcus Crandell and Dave Dickenson, and I played with Henry. So it was always important for us to go out there and try to protect them so they could lead us to victory.
“We had some good running backs too, right?” Childress continued. “We had Kelvin Anderson go into the hall of fame — he was our running back. He made it easy for all of us.
“Plus we had some great linemen here, too. I played with Jamie Crysdale and Rocco Romano, Jay McNeil and Rohn Meyer and Thomas Rayam. We had pretty good lineups when we played. We had a good unit, and we worked hard, and we succeeded.”
tsaelhof@postmedia.com
VIA: https://calgarysun.com/sports/football/cfl/calgary-stampeders/big-chill-just-doing-his-job-made-him-canadian-football-hall-of-famer
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